WordPress Developer Plugins

Posted byJohn Blackbourn 5 Comments on WordPress Developer Plugins

Here’s a list of the developer-oriented plugins for WordPress that I use on a regular basis. (Alternative title: 10 WordPress Plugins You Can’t Live Without. You’ll Never Believe What Number 4 Does!)

Rewrite Rules Inspector

Invaluable if you’re working with rewrite rules. Not only lists all the current rewrite rules on your site, but also lets you query a URL to see which rules it matches.

Rewrite Rule Testing

This plugin is an under-appreciated gem. It lets you specify simple tests for your rewrite rules to avoid problems such as missing or clashing rules. Just give it an array of paths and the expected corresponding query for each, and the plugin will let you know if any of them fail.

Query Monitor

My own plugin which provides debugging and performance information on database queries, hooks, conditionals, HTTP requests, redirects, scripts & styles, transients, and lots more. A modern-day replacement for Debug Bar.

Log Deprecated Notices

Deprecated notices in WordPress can slip by, especially if they’re happening some place that you don’t look. This plugin logs these notices and provides a simple admin list screen with the call count and information about the alternative function or function arguments.

Pig Latin and RTL Tester

Combined, these plugins allow you to test your internationalisation implementation and support for right-to-left languages. Bear in mind that you’ll need to be running a built version of WordPress (ie. not from src) in order to use RTL Tester.

User Switching

My plugin for swapping between user accounts in WordPress at the click of a button. Instantly switch to your desired user, and instantly switch back when you’re done.

WP Crontrol

Working with asynchronous events in the WP-Cron system can be challenging sometimes. WP Crontrol shows you pending events, available schedules, and alerts you if WP-Cron can’t spawn on your site for any reason.

HTTPS Mixed Content Detector

A relatively new plugin, this is super handy for anyone building a site that will be served over HTTPS. It uses Content Security Policy reporting to log all mixed content on your site, and provides an admin screen listing the violations.

Transients Manager

Provides a UI to manage your site’s transients. You can view, search, edit, and delete transients at will.

Developer Loggers for Simple History

Adds some developer-focused logging to the Simple History plugin, such as email logging, 404 logging, and HTTP API logging.

Email Log

Logs every email sent through WordPress and provides a UI where you can view them.

5 replies on “WordPress Developer Plugins”

  1. Thanks for sharing!
    And thanks for the amazing Query Monitor. Use it almost every day.

    BTW: you use a probably modified version of Filosofos outdated plugin Comment Preview (the original one doesn’t work any more, am I right?) – Would you mind to share the code for this?

    Cheers,
    Frank

    1. I’ve just checked and I’ve not modified Filosofo’s plugin (running version 1.6 which shows up as 1.5 in the Plugin Directory). It’s very outdated but it still works.

  2. If I may make my own shameless plug; Role Quick Changer is a useful developer’s plugin I created that allows you to select a role to view the site as from a simple drop-down in the admin tool bar.

    It doesn’t fully support front-end use quite yet, and is mainly aimed towards the admin screens.

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